Joakim Flygh, who went to the NCAA Tournament
five times as an assistant coach at Harvard and
Minnesota-Duluth, was named Yale’s head women’s
ice hockey coach on July 28, 2010. Flygh’s nine-year career
as an assistant coach was marked by consistent success; teams
he coached for had a combined winning percentage of .701
(176-69-21) and he was a part of six seasons of 20 or more
wins.

Flygh (whose name is pronounced YOU-a-keem FLEEG) is the 10th
coach in Yale women’s ice hockey history. In 2013-14, he led
the Bulldogs to their best winning percentage in conference games
(.432) since 2007-08. In addition to making their first ECAC Hockey
Championship playoff appearance since 2008, they earned their first
postseason win since 2005 with a 3-2 double overtime win at
then-No. 5 Harvard Feb. 28 in game one of the quarterfinals. The
Bulldogs eventually lost the series two games to one (including a
double overtime loss in game two), falling one goal shy of the
program's second appearance at the ECAC Hockey semifinals.

During Flygh's first four years at Yale, the team has been
recognized in multiple ways both on and off the ice. Forward
Phoebe Staenz, who won a bronze medal at the 2014
Olympics with Team Switzerland, earned multiple Rookie of the Year
honors in 2013-14. Goaltender Jaimie Leonoff was a
second team All-Ivy League selection in 2012-13, and earned a spot
at Hockey Canada's National Women's Program goaltending camp in
June of 2013. Goaltender Jackee Snikeris '11 was a
first team All-ECAC Hockey honoree and ECAC Hockey Goaltender of
the Year in 2010-11, and was selected to USA Hockey's annual Warren
Strelow Goaltending Camp for the fourth straight time in 2011.

Yale has also had a Hockey Humanitarian Award finalist in each
of Flygh's first three seasons, and Aleca Hughes
'12 won the award in 2012. Additionally, the team has had
three different players win the Sarah Devens Award, a joint award
for leadership that includes both ECAC Hockey and Hockey East:
Snikeris in 2011, Hughes in 2012 and Alyssa Zupon
'13 in 2013.

As a team, Yale was named the Dave Solomon Memorial Sports
Persons of the Year by the New Haven Register for 2011. The award
honored the Bulldogs for their community service efforts, including
the annual Mandi Schwartz Marrow Donor Registration Drive at Yale
(held in memory of Mandi Schwartz '10 (1988-2011)
and her battle with cancer) and "Yale Bulldog PAWS (Pediatric
Alliance With Student-athletes)", a program started by Zupon that
pairs Yale athletic teams with pediatric patients from Yale-New
Haven Hospital to serve as a support group.

The team has also maintained a standard of academic excellence
during Flygh's tenure. In his first two seasons the team had 35
ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team selections, leading the league in
2010-11 and tying for the league lead in 2011-12. The team has also
had three Academic All-Ivy League selections in his first four
years: Snikeris in 2010-11, Zupon in 2012-13 and Tara
Tomimoto '13 in 2013-14.

Flygh came to Yale after three seasons as an assistant at
Harvard. There, he helped the Crimson to a 71-20-8 overall record,
two NCAA tournament appearances, two ECAC Hockey regular season
championships, two Beanpot tournament championships and one ECAC
Hockey tournament championship. He was a part of Harvard’s
perfect 22-0-0 ECAC Hockey regular season in 2007-08, the same year
the Crimson advanced to the NCAA’s Frozen Four.

Flygh had a pair of stints leading Harvard while head coach
Katey Stone was away coaching for USA Hockey. The Crimson went
4-0-1 in those games. His primary coaching responsibilities
included working with the defense and the penalty-killing unit.
Harvard was ranked in the top four in the country in scoring
defense each year that Flygh was there, and led the nation in that
category in 2007-08 (1.00 goals per game). Harvard was also ranked
in the top six in penalty killing each year that Flygh was
there.

Flygh’s off-ice responsibilities with the Crimson included
coordinating recruiting, monitoring the squad’s academic
progress and acting as a liaison between the team and the
school’s admissions office.

At his two recent assistant coaching stops, Flygh has worked
with two of the top three active coaches in career victories
in the NCAA in Stone and UMD's Shannon Miller. He helped coach
seven All-Americans and a Patty Kazmaier Award winner.

Flygh served as an assistant coach at Minnesota-Duluth for three
seasons, working with the defense and penalty killing unit. The
Bulldogs made the NCAA tournament every year that he was there.
They advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four championship game in 2007 and
posted an overall record of 72-26-9. Among his proteges at UMD was
current Yale assistant coach Jessica Koizumi.

Over Flygh’s tenure, UMD ranked fourth nationally in goals
allowed per game and third in penalty killing. During his first
season in 2004-05, the UMD penalty kill unit allowed just 16 goals
in 206 power plays, leading the country with a 92.2-percent
efficiency.

Flygh began his coaching career at his alma mater, New England
College, as a graduate assistant with the men’s ice hockey
team in 2001-02. He helped the Pilgrims to a 53-23-4 record and
three second-place finishes in three seasons before moving on to
Minnesota-Duluth. One of his players at New England was current
Yale assistant coach Eddie Ardito.

As a player for New England, Flygh was the Pilgrims’
defensive player of the year. He went on to play professional
hockey in Sweden for the Lysekil Vikings.

Flygh has been active in international hockey, coaching at the
IIHF Women's World Championship for Sweden in 2012 and 2013. He was
also on Sweden's staff for the 4 Nations Tournament in December of
2012.

A native of Tyringe, Sweden, Flygh graduated from New England
College with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology in 2000. He
earned a master’s degree in organizational management from
New England in 2002. He is married to Angela Francisco Flygh, a
2001 Harvard graduate and former Crimson women’s ice hockey
captain. They have two children.